Ed Milliband used his inaugural speech to demand fair wages for those in social care jobs, according to Community Care.

"What does it say about the values of our society, what have we become, that a banker can earn in a day what the care worker can earn in a year?" said Miliband, as he called for a generational change in the country.

He used the example of a care worker he met in Durham during the contest for the Labour leadership, who told him she'd be better off stacking shelves for £7 an hour rather than looking after the elderly. He said: "She is doing one of the most important jobs in our society, and if it was my mum and dad [she was looking after], I would want anyone who cared for them to be paid a decent wage."

"But she was barely paid the minimum wage - and barely a few pence extra for higher skills," added Miliband.

It was also reported earlier by Community Care that Miliband publicly backs the creation of a national care service which would provide free care at the point of need for older and disabled people.

However, Unison general secretary Dave Prentis warned that Miliband would be reaching out to those who abandoned Labour in the general election. "Under Ed's leadership, Labour must re-connect with Labour's lost voters, including public sector workers, many of whom have been turned off in the past because the believed that Labour had deserted them."